Newsletter

Heyward Apartments leasing at Habersham and Bolton

In recent columns, I’ve talked about the need for greater residential density in the downtown area.

Savannah’s older neighborhoods were designed to be far denser than they are now.

Additional residents in the Landmark Historic District would help balance some of the impacts of tourism, a hot topic of late.

In adjacent neighborhoods that would actually like to benefit more from tourism, additional residents will help support neighborhood retail revitalization.

And that brings me to the beautifully renovated Heyward Apartments at the northeast corner of Bolton and Habersham streets. That’s just east of Kroger.

The two massive buildings, which together total about 11,000 square feet, are connected by a hallway and have only six apartments.

SCAD students would obviously be the most likely tenants for the newly renovated spaces, but the large, rambling units could be perfect for students at the nearby Savannah Law School and for young professionals.

Just over a century old, the buildings changed hands frequently in recent years and were vacant and in considerable disrepair when Mike Powers and his team took on the project, which was spotlighted here in the Exchange section last April.

The four-bedroom apartments on Habersham Street are $2,600 a month. The Bolton Street apartments, which lease for $2,100 a month, have either two or three bedrooms, in addition to grand porches.

The porch on the third floor is higher than most of the nearby rooftops, with commanding views of the neighborhood. I enjoyed that view last Thursday evening at a packed grand opening hosted by Powers and Powers Property Investments.

Asked about the project, Powers could only rhapsodize about the talented young team that oversaw the renovations, with guidance from the Historic Savannah Foundation.

“These kids are all in their 30s with so many contributions to make to our city in the future,” he told me via email.